A pure poetry — I want to write a poem that isn’t peppered with smooth words and fancy speech. I want to write a poem that has never tasted a major thesaurus spree. I want to write a poem that has never experienced the cold touch of retail goods and boutique stores and squared spaces and…

A psalm about working our salvation — As my body drowns deeper in His wellspring, so does the Spirit flow through these dead pores, spilling, sweltering, ever-rushing His glow. As fish and waters follow their highways, so does my mind blow upstream and high, singing, swimming, rumbling against currents. As my bones crack under this parching red…

An Ode to the Redeemer of Mankind — A crack on the ground cutting shards through its rounds frost atop repressed flames built upon unprocessed shame. Crystal lights from far a sight cruel cold to passers-by bleeds the feet of all who cross over its stitching edges. A hunter trespasses guilty voices escape bottles leak, old rags burn wild-demons shot in…

Why it matters to do both at the same time. — I used to admire mothers who are as strict as a drill sergeant in their discipline. It speaks to everyone that she takes her role very seriously, which then earns her an “above average”, “very good”, and “not the best but excellent enough” title as a mother. My own mother…

Read this before you buy another self-help book — You don’t need more advice. You don’t need another instruction on how to do life. Every other book of the trade has given you all the advice you need. Each new one that pops up is just another repurposed content shaped in the format you want. That new post from…

Of human standards and body measurements — The other morning, my child wonders why we call the legs long and the body tall and not the other way around. I gave a satisfactory immediate response: “Our legs are an important part of our body. They help us stand tall and keep us balanced.” It didn’t take long…

A poem about our human need to be cleansed by grace — There is no topical treatment for self-regulation. Putting on the new self is simply putting off all pretense of fine powders and putting on a whole nude mind, looking like nobody else and good hydration and deep breathing and kindness and Christ. So do the heart work and exfoliate daily…

A poem about living up to beauty standards — Imagine what we could accomplish had we not devoted our tendencies to assessing our frame, sizing our shape, obsessing over the width of one’s arm and the buoyancy of our bosom, only to deny the many layers of us and think we can turn stones into cotton, wines into mountains, oh what manifestation but one of…

A poem on self-rejection — I already know all the rules: Hydrate, move often, get plenty of sleep; skip some meals, beef up on greens, ban all sugars and fuel with fats; maintain your relations, monitor your vitals, manage the strains and smile through the rain. …